I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robotic platform for autonomous automotive vehicle development.
II. Description of Related Art
Modern automotive vehicles typically include numerous electronic systems for safety and collision avoidance systems, as well as navigation systems. Such systems, furthermore, typically employ processors, such as microprocessors, which control the operation of the system and perform the various decisions required by the operation of the system.
The development and debugging of software utilized to control the operation of the processors in these various safety, anti-collision and navigation systems has previously represented a time-consuming process. Furthermore, in order to verify the proper operation of the systems during development, it has been the previous practice to implement these systems on an automotive vehicle during all stages of the system development.
The implementation of the systems on an automotive vehicle during the entire development of the system, however, has proven disadvantageous for a number of reasons. First, the relatively high cost of the automotive vehicle itself represents a significant expenditure in the development of the safety, anti-collision and navigation systems. Additionally, in some situations, such as an anti-collision system, it is necessary to subject the automotive vehicle to a potential collision in order to ensure proper operation of the anti-collision system. In the event the anti-collision system does not operate as intended, which typically occurs during the early development of the anti-collision system, damage to the automotive vehicle can result thus further increasing the development cost of these automotive systems.